The Long Way Home (Corps Security #6)(59)

Davey walks over and sits down on the couch next to his husband. He gets a kiss the second his bottom lands, and I can’t help but feel a little lightness as I watch them together. They’re adorable and clearly still very much in love. They’re touching, their sides meshed together even with space to allow another two people to sit. I understand their preference to be nearby. It’s the same I feel toward Zeke.

“Ready?” Sway asks, gaining my attention.

“I’m always ready,” I sass, the words out before I realized how they sounded.

“Noted.” I hear spoken from behind me, the gruff voice of a man I find myself completely head over heels for gives me a thrill so violently strong, I feel my whole body react with a little shiver.

Sway’s eyes twinkle, holding my gaze.

Davey looks on with a huge smile, eyes to the space behind me, and shock clear as day in his expression despite the happy smile is confusing. I don’t have time to think about his weird reaction. Zeke speaks, and another shiver of awareness zaps through my body.

“Though, would prefer to be alone.”

“Not missing this moment, Zachariah Cooper,” Sway smarts back, eyes narrowing but still twinkling bright. “You made me wait for over two dagum decades for that. I’m going to enjoy watching her meet you again. Consider it payment for my services.” He snickers.

“Pain in my ass,” Zeke grumbles behind me. A beat of silence follows before I hear. “Turn around, Liv.”

My heart pounds.

“Yes, Liv, turn around,” Sway cooingly mocks.

I look at both the men on the couch, clearly loving this, and with a calming inhale, I turn around.

“Holy shit,” I whisper the second I get my first glimpse.

He doesn’t speak, giving me the time to study him. The new him. No, not the new him … the new old him. He’s no longer Drew, not even is he my Zeke … in front of me might as well be a stranger—he looks that different. Had I not seen him without his contacts before now, I’m not sure that I would recognize him at first glance.

Those eyes though are all him.

“You’re beautiful,” I whisper, blushing instantly when I realize my thoughts had escaped my lips, my eyes still roaming over him, looking at the differences, but also seeing more parts of the man I knew him to be starting to stand out more in front of me.

He doesn’t react outwardly, but I see his eyes catch fire as I continue my perusal. The blue as bright as the sky on a clear and sunny day. His eyes still crinkle in at the corners in the same way. His nostrils still give a little movement when he takes a deep breath in, almost like a fluttering beat. He still runs his tongue over his full bottom lip. His stance is still the same—shoulders strong, his fists slightly clenched, and his long legs planted wide on the ground beneath him.

I take a step toward him, watching his throat as he swallows thickly. Without his beard, the strong lines showcase the thick cords in his neck. His jaw ticks, those yummy flexes screaming look at me now that they aren’t covered by hair. He looks so much younger. If I didn’t know his age, I would put him in his early forties. Heck, maybe even his late thirties. His hair looks lighter now, too. The missing longer locks that had been more dirty than blond are a big reason he no longer looks like the same man. Blond and short, not dirty blond and long, trimmed at the sides with the length just long enough for me to run my fingers through it and make a mess on the top.

“You’re staring pretty hard there.” He breaks the silence with his low and steady words.

“You sound like you, but you don’t look like you,” I dumbly droll.

“Still the same me, Liv,” he responds.

“No.” I smile and take a step toward him. “You’re Zeke.”

“Like I said. Same thing.”

My hands come up, and I frame his face, palms landing on the two dimples I had no idea the man I was seeing possessed. “Not even close. You’re you, but you’re also not.” I rub my palms against his cheeks slightly, feeling the smooth skin that used to be covered up. His lips look fuller. His eyes brighter. “How do you feel?”

He swallows thickly again. His eyes dart a glance at the two men on the couch. It’s only then that I realize he had been holding my hips because right before he opens his mouth, his fingers twitch and give me a squeeze.

“Like I might throw up.”

“Let’s not do that. You might mess your hair up.” I wink, and his lips start to pull up into a small smile.

“Scared, Liv. I’m fuckin’ scared.”

I hear, Sway I think, make a small cry.

“Right here by your side, my handsome giant.” I wink, taking a step closer and erasing the distance, no longer caring that we aren’t alone. “I’m right by your side every step of the way.”

“Not going to be easy.”

“Nothing worth having ever is.”

He grunts out a laugh, lacking all humor. Then he turns to look at Sway, without disconnecting from me.

“Make the call.”

I hold his gaze, hoping he can see how much I love him. Gone is the tiredness I had felt before we entered the hotel room. In its place is steadfast determination to be this beautiful man’s strength as he faces the family who thought he was dead.

Oh boy.